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Re: Leno's Final Night Is Official
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 Jay Leno helped NBC's co-presidents announce his departure date from "The Tonight Show" on Monday at the TV critics press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. Disguised in a bald cap, glasses and a goatee and posing as a reporter, sitting among the critics in the room (that's him in the photo -- seriously) Leno dropped the first question to co-presidents Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff. ABC's late-night star Jimmy Kimmel pulled a similar stunt last week.
In true reporter fashion, Leno dropped the bomb right away, asking when his last day on "The Tonight Show" will be.
Graboff said Leno's last night on "The Tonight Show" will be May 29, 2009, and Conan O'Brien will make his "Tonight Show" debut the following Monday, June 1, 2009.
Leno had a little fun at his own expense, comparing his situation to Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. Leno had agreed to the sequence of events that would lead to his exit from "The Tonight Show" and hand over the reigns to O'Brien. But in recent months, he has talked publicly about his desire to continue doing late-night television, even though O'Brien's deal is set and Jimmy Fallon has already been named to replace O'Brien on "Late Night."
"Brett Favre recently announced his retirement and then decided to come back to football," Leno said. "What do you think about that?"
"I'm sure that's making things very difficult on the management," Silverman said. "But everyone is entitled to change their mind."
NBC has been trying to offer Leno alternatives to keep him on the network, but so far no agreement has been reached. Leno joked about a rumor that he'd been offered a fifth hour on the "Today" show, which drew a big laugh from the crowd. Graboff was asked about an interview last week in USA Today, in which Leno said, "I am definitely done next year -- with NBC." Graboff said Leno was taken out of context and that the quote didn't have the subtext of Leno suggesting he'd be moving to ABC, as it implied.
"We have thought it all through," Graboff said. "We did that when we made the deal with Jay four years ago and we've been talking with him pretty much the whole time. We can't force him to do anything with us, but we've presented him with a number of opportunies. I think if you asked Jay he'd tell you he was taken out of context a little bit (in the interview). He didn't talk, necessarily, about, 'I'm outta here, I'm going to ABC.'"
In other late-night news, the NBC execs said O'Brien's run on "Late Night" will end some time in early 2009 and there will be a gap between the end of his run there and the beginning of his time on "The Tonight Show." Jimmy Fallon's start date on "Late Night" hasn't been set, but he will begin his new role in an online version and transition after a little while onto TV.
In other NBC news, the executives confirmed that Amy Poehler has been locked up to star in a new sitcom that will be developed by the creators of "The Office," but will not be a spinoff of "The Office." The show will have a similar style and tone, but Poehler's character will not have had anything to do with "The Office." The actual spinoff of the show, which will include current members of the cast of "The Office," is still being developed. But the focus, for now, is on Poehler's new show.
*** What do you think? Are you still sad about Leno's departure? Will you watch Conan O'Brien's show? Do you hope Leno stays with NBC in some other role? Click here to comment!
****** Victor Balta and Tracy Phillips are blogging live from the TV
critics press tour. What do you want to know about your favorite shows?
Let us know. Click here to ask about your favorite TV shows!
More from the TV critics press tour:
Message Edited by Victor_Balta on 07-21-2008 03:41 PM
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